Euronews

The Liberal Democrats have been punished in England in local elections, losing 300 councillors after counting in less than half the constituencies were completed.

Their coalition colleagues, the Conservatives, have gained with 45 more councillors. The biggest winners are the Labour party with 339 more representatives.

LibDem Leader Nick Clegg said “we have taken a real knock last night and we’ll need to learn the lessons. We need to get up, dust ourselves down, and move on,” Mr. Clegg said.

LibDems lost control of four councils, including Sheffield, where Clegg is a member of parliament. Supporters of the party have shown unease over how the coalition has worked and changes to LibDems’ promises since before the general elections.

Raising university tuition fees was one of the worst blows to Clegg, as it was a clear deviation of LibDem agenda.

More pain may be in store for Clegg after results of a referendum aimed at reforming the electoral system in the UK come out. Polls suggest that a ‘no’ result is very likely.